Peninsula residents, ignore flu shot at your own peril

Peninsula residents have no excuse not to get the flu shot if they haven't already done so. Early this week, Dr. Nzinga Teule-Hekima, currently health director for both the Peninsula and Hampton health departments, announced that the district's vaccination clinics would be dispensing the shot free of charge until further notice to anyone over the age of 6 months.

Until you've been hit by the virulent seasonal flu, it's difficult to imagine just how debilitating it is — and how long it can last. I learned the hard way and paid for my procrastination in getting the shot with a raging fever, headache, cough and all-consuming lethargy. At the doctor's office, a nasal swab quickly revealed a case of B-strain flu — "that's not so bad," the nurse said cheerfully, along with the prediction of an illness lasting from 10 days to two weeks. The good news was that I had taken myself to the doctor sufficiently soon after the onset of symptoms to be prescribed the antiviral Tamiflu, which serves to ease the misery and shorten the illness. The five-day course duly had me back on my feet on the fifth day.

Grateful as I was for the measure of relief afforded by the medication, I was also shocked by the avalanche of pills that I was prescribed. My fever, apparently, had exacerbated a mild chlorine-generated rash. In addition to the Tamiflu, I was given a five-day supply of prednisone along with accompanying pills for "nighttime itching," whose accompanying literature cautioned against the drowsiness they might cause. And, finally, I was given a prescription for a cough medicine, laced with codeine. Thanks to the use of electronic ordering, the doctor zipped the order for three of the medications direct to a neighboring pharmacist. Only the codeine-containing cough medicine — I had relayed that I had a cough, but not given it any weight — was handed to me on paper with the instructions that I had to hand-deliver it.

While wonderfully efficient, the electronic system removed any choice from the process — what if I couldn't afford all three? What if I didn't feel they were necessary? While the doctor relayed brief information about each before putting in the order, my flu-induced lethargy eliminated any possibility of my questioning the order. So, now I have an unused stash of prednisone, and an almost full bottle of pills for "nighttime itching." (I used two of the latter for their drowsiness properties when I found myself wakeful into the early morning hours.) I also have an unfilled prescription for a powerful cough medicine.

It's no wonder that prescription drug abuse is rampant if medications are so readily dispensed with minimal accountability. It's documented that access to prescribed medications by other family members, particularly teens, has become a prime path to their misuse. No suggestion was made that they might not all be necessary to restoring my health, and no instructions were given for the disposal of unused medications.

So, look for a future story on this issue — and feel free to send me your suggestions for how the system could work better.

Follow the blog at dailypress.com/healthnotes. Find more health news at dailypress.com/health; on Twitter at dphealthnotes or on Facebook at dphealth. Sign up for a free weekly health e-letter, The Health Report, at dailypress.com/services/newsletter/register/.